Hoverfly Spotter Nov26 Sightings.

Bittern, Wheatear and Pipit.

The autumn migration is now in full swing, over the last few weeks I have visited my local nature reserve to find shanks & pipers passing through the country. This week we took a trip to the Norfolk coast a ‘Mecca’ for twitchers at this time of year, as the clocks changed just before Halloween.

Although these trips can be done solo, Catherine and I always find when it comes to spotting birds the more eyes the better. So, we joined, as we have done for the last few years, a coach party from the Sheffield and Chesterfield RSPB groups. All their scopes and experience can help easily identify a Common Gull from a Herring Gull in a quick glance. I don’t think they would call themselves twitchers that travel the breadth of the country to see a Nutcracker, when it appears in someone’s garden- but they certainly know their onions.

Thursday

Despite the early 5am start to get to the coach on time, we headed off down to the Norfolk coast with Cley being our first destination. We were supposed to go to Holme Dunes that first day but the problem with a large coach is it’s not easy to get to some places.

So, four and half hours later we arrived at our destination. After a brief talk from staff at a busy visitor centre, we headed off to Bishop’s hide. It did not disappoint - first birds spotted Water Pipit and Snipe.

Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) ✅

The Water Pipit is a winter migrant, breeding in mountainous regions, alpine slopes and upland plains.

Very similar to a Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) but browner, whitish chin and white stripe over the eye. In Summer it has a pinkish breast.

Did you Know?

It is more timid than a Rock Pipit, and when flushed will rise high into the air, giving a loud, shrill, strident fsst; as it gains height, it swings back behind the observer and drops into similar habitat several hundred metres away. This distinctive behaviour although not diagnostic, can help distinguish it from Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis) which are found in similar habitats but glide to the ground.

Anthus spinoletta - Water pipit - Wikipedia – Durzan ciranoio

Tree Snot Discovered!!!

Strange Jelly

Sometimes when you go for a nature walk with a specific target in mind, whether it’s birds in spring, hoverflies in summer, or galls and leaf miners in autumn, you often stumble across something completely unexpected. On one such walk, I came across a strange translucent blob hanging from a leaf over a woodland stream, a discovery that is perfect for Halloween.

Hoverfly Spotter Oct26 Sightings

Pipers, Shanks & Drones

Where has this year gone? The last time I looked it was spring and now its autumn. The leaves are losing their colour, turning shades of yellow and red before quietly floating to the ground. Flowers are going to seed, making it increasingly difficult for insects to find the nectar and pollen they need to continue laying eggs.

It’s a race against time, as insects strive to produce the next generation before winter finally sets in. Yet it is also a time of transition, as we bid a sad farewell to our summer visitors and welcome back to our winter guests.

When we think of autumn migration, we tend to think of birds arriving in from Scandinavia and Iceland like the Fieldfares, Waxwings and Redwings and geese including Barnacle, Pink Feet and Brent. But did you know amongst these migrating birds are migrating insects too? Species such as the Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Clouded Yellow and Painted lady are now heading south after a fruitful year pushing north, remarkably hoverflies are part of those migrations too.

Yes folks, the autumn migration is here.

It’s that time of year when I love visiting nature reserves where passing migrants might be spotted. In a week or so I will be on the Norfolk coast, but today, mid-October it was my local reserve Old Moor.

Tiny Monster Hiding on an Autumn Leaf

Was it a micro moth? a gall? an egg?

As Halloween approaches, I always find myself noticing the stranger side of nature. Autumn may signal the end of the insect season, but if you look closely enough, there are still plenty of surprises waiting among the fading leaves.

This is the story of one such surprise, from many many years ago.

The days are drawing shorter and the nights colder, the season for most insects has already passed and the number of species of hoverflies spotted is reducing quickly in number. There are still a few on the flowering Ivy and Michaelmas daisies, so on a sunny day both can be full of pollinators.

At this time of year, I spend less time watching flowers and more time inspecting leaves. Autumn can reveal all sorts of hidden treasures, from strange plant galls to the winding tunnels of leaf miners hidden inside a leaf.

So, it was a mild autumn afternoon, I spotted what looked like nothing more than a tiny speck of dirt, on a leaf. It was so small I almost ignored it. My first thoughts were it was going to be a micro moth, a gall, or an egg - it turned out to be none of them.

The Death's Head Hoverfly:

The Tenuous Folklore and Classification of Batman Hoverfly. 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), covering its life cycle, geographical range and how to identify it in the field. If you haven’t read it, you can find it here.

It’s a hoverfly with a superhero emblem, buoyant larvae that dive like miniature whales, and a strong association with cemeteries.

The insect we know today as the Batman Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) is already one of Britain’s most distinctive hoverflies. Yet behind its comic-book nickname lies a far older and darker story.

Long before Batman existed, naturalists across Europe knew this species by another name: the Death’s Head Hoverfly.